Making an Impact with Conservation Dollars

The threats facing wild trout and salmon are historic. So are the opportunities for recovery.

Thanks to the once-in-a-generation investments included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, we are scaling up restoration and recovery efforts. More than $100 million in federal funding, combined with millions more in private dollars, is helping us amplify our impact.

We are restoring watersheds on National Forests across the country, on Bureau of Land Management holdings in the arid West, and in key watersheds alongside the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA.

We have come a long way in our efforts to recover trout and salmon, but with these historic investments in conservation, we are finally working at a scale that matches the challenges America’s rivers and fisheries face.

More than 40 percent of trout streams in the United States flow through the 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands. In recent years, TU has leveraged $20 million in Forest Service funding to carry out $62 million worth of projects. With more than $60 million in new investments over five years, we are making forest watersheds healthier, improving water quality downstream, and supporting family-wage jobs in largely rural communities.

Climate change and drought are having an extraordinary impact on rivers, communities, and fisheries across the West. Thanks to nearly $9M in funding from the Bureau of Land Management, we’re working to reconnect stream systems, store water, and help wild and native trout and salmon weather climate change.

The Farm Bill conservation programs help us work with farmers and ranchers to improve their irrigation infrastructure and use water more efficiently on their lands. This is a triple-win, helping our agricultural partners make needed upgrades, improving water quality, and keeping more water in the river at key points for fish.